Ways to Cut Grocery Costs

If there is anything I love doing, it’s saving money at the grocery store. Grocery costs
are up 12% since last year according to healthline.com This means the $500 you used
to pay for groceries is now $560! Yikes!! One other “fun” fact from the USDA website is
that as of January 2023, the cost of groceries for a family of four ranged from $1,025 (
Thrifty plan) to $1,675 (Liberal food plan). So how can we save a little money on
groceries?

Shop the sales. This allows you to create a meal based on what’s on sale and what you
may have at home. Did you know that most items go on sale every 6-8 weeks, so get in
the rhythm to buy enough when it is on sale to last you 6-8 weeks.(Word to the wise,
sale is when the item is 30-50% off regular price ). Buy what you actually eat and don’t
buy it because it is on sale.

Create a meal plan. This is key because the grocery list is created from the ingredients
you need to make these meals. Having this as your foundation, makes life a lot easier,
healthier and cheaper if you adhere to it. Factor in ALL meals to include snacks
especially if you have children! Summer vacation can kill a grocery budget. Take into
consideration your calendar, know which days are going to require quicker meals and
have a few on hand ( less than 30 minutes). I like allrecipes.com for 30 minute meal
ideas. Once you have a couple of weeks of meal plans you can keep them on a rotation
so you don’t have to start over each time. (Favorite strategy of mine!)

Have a budget so you can get control of your spending. To start with, take your last 3
grocery bills and round up to the nearest dollar to get a realistic idea of what you’ve
been spending. The hope is that moving forward there will be money left over to apply
to savings or next week’s grocery fund.

Things to be mindful when it comes to grocery shopping:

• Large warehouse stores are not always cheaper and they don’t always make sense.
• Buy in bulk only if it makes sense.
• Shop at more than one store. Loyalty may cost you a lot more money.
• Coupons come after shopping sales. Coupons are okay but store sales are better. Now,
  if you get the opportunity to stack, go for it. This means applying a coupon to a sale
  item. Woo Hoo!!
• Stick to the list. You took the time to plan it all out so trust the plan.
• Beware of convenience items. Money is saved when you do it yourself. Chop your own,
  break up big packages of meat into smaller ones, freeze veggies that look like they may
  be close to going bad, etc.
• Cut out as much of the non-food items as possible.
• Avoid the impulse items such as gifts, cards or toys
• Consider finding reusable alternatives for disposable items such as paper towels.
• Make your own cleaning supplies vs buying them in the grocery store.
• Shopping later in the day will likely find you bigger bargains on meat, fish or bakery items.
• Shop larger cuts of meat so you can reuse as leftovers on another day during the week. This saves time and money. For example, a pork roast can be reused with the leftovers as barbecue pork on another day. This is a quick meal that prevented waste. If you won’t have the opportunity to reuse in that week, stick it in the freezer with a date on it and you have the beginnings of another meal.

Getting your grocery life organized will be beneficial in the long run. The fifteen minutes
or so it takes to shop the sales, create the meal plan and the list will be well worth it.
Once you have the framework, it gets even faster and easier.